Dr Barnabé Kikaya Bin Karubi
Kinshasa Ambassador in London
Here is a message in French DRC Ambassador in London Barnabé Kikaya Bin Karubi wrote on his Facebook wall:
“On the night of Sunday [June 6] to Monday [June 7], at around 10:45 pm, strangers came to my residence and set fire on the official vehicle, on my wife’s car and on my residence. My family and I had a narrow escape. I urge those who can do it to pray for my two kids who’re still traumatized by the violence of this act.”
According to Congolese media reports, the fire on Kikaya’s residence, located in the neighborhood of Hendon, raged for almost an hour before firemen had the blaze under control. The two cars were utterly crammed burnt and the damage to the residence substantial.
In his interview with Kinshasa radio station Top Congo, Kikaya said that the assailants, who identified themselves as “combatants,” claimed responsibility the next day [Monday]—as retribution to the murder of Flori Chebeya. Radio Okapi reports that the arson is now being investigated by the Counter Terrorism Command of the London Metropolitan Police.
This attack has angered Kinshasa mainstream media, including the otherwise guarded Le Potentiel, which uncharacteristically was vocal in its condemnation of the entire British police:
“This attack being the umpteenth act of terrorism perpetrated against our diplomats, it’s fitting to pose questions about the ability of British authorities to protect foreign diplomats and particularly those from the Democratic Republic of Congo!”
London is the European epicenter of Congolese rejectionists. It teems with violent “informal sovereigns” (Thomas Blom Hansen), “doppelganger anticitizens” (Comaroff and Comaroff), vicious zombies, maleficent golems, iniquitous vigilantes, and wacky whatnots who’ve taken upon themselves to produce an alternative, all-encompassing, exclusive and single narrative of the Congolese nation that mixes prophet Simon Kimbangu, Patrice Lumumba, Bundu-dia-Kongo guru MP Ne Mwana Nsemi, Jean-Pierre Bemba and Jesus-Christ into one oxymoronic hagiography!
They call themselves "Londoniens" (Londoners), “combatants,” “resisters” or “bana-mboka” (native children of the land). They are hardcore sectarians who don’t even acknowledge that the Raïs is a Congolese or the son of Laurent Kabila for that matter. They spell Congo “Kongo” and some of them claim to be the direct descendants of ancient Egyptians: they refer to ancient Egypt as Kemet (or Kermit). They are often MLC supporters from Kinshasa and the Western Lingala-speaking provinces of the DRC. They are well known for their acts of pornographic violence and vandalism against Congolese officials, musicians, or common fellow citizens who don’t agree with their narrative and whom they label as “infiltrés”[moles], “collabos” [collaborators], “Rwandans,” or “sellouts.”
Once you’ve been thus labeled as an enemy, you better watch over your shoulder, for you’d be living under the permanent fatwa issued on the internet by any number of these hooligans. Short of growing a pair of eyes on the back of your head, the only alternatives left for you would be to get out of London or to stay but to live in total seclusion--which is impossible!... They’ve got a panoptic view of all prominent Congolese living in the diaspora or in the Congo over whom they think they have biopolitical sovereignty!
These goons have converted the Congolese grapevine of Radio-Trottoir [Sidewalk Radio] into the internet. They have developed an informal albeit effective intelligence machine on other Congolese's political activities or allegiances. They have a flair for spotting the whereabouts of their victims upon whom they then descend in murderous posses. They operate with the swiftness and efficiency of Black Bloc anarchists with the uncanny ability to vanish into thin air in the streets, back streets and alleys of London after their “direct actions.” It’s just a miracle no one has died so far at their hands. They are also armed with sophisticated digital cameras and camcorders to record their deeds as trophies to plaster on their blogs and internet forums.
About two years ago, Koffi Olomide had to cancel a concert in London for fear of attacks. And, btw, most Congolese musicians are considered “collabos” by these “bana-mboka” who have declared London a no-go zone for any Congolese who’s remotely associated with or perceived as accommodating to the regime in Kinshasa…
Léonard She Okitundu
Then chief of staff to the President
After being severely beaten by "informal sovereigns" in London
October 2006
In October 2006, Senator Léonard She Okitundu, then chief of staff to the President, was assaulted, stripped naked and beaten senseless in the streets of London. In 2007, the "informal sovereigns" in London set the DRC embassy ablaze.
Here’s the dramatic first paragraph of The Guardian report on the beating of Léonard She Okitundu in an article titled “Beaten, stripped and humiliated online – an African minister’s welcome to the UK (Congolese dignitary ‘waited for hours in hospital’; ‘Photographs of stolen clothes posted on internet’)”:
“A senior member of the Congolese cabinet was attacked in London by a gang who beat him around the head and body with a baseball bat, stripped him and posted pictures of his clothes on the internet. Scotland Yard last night launched an investigation into the assault on Leonard She Okitundu, the chief of staff to Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, amid questions over why a foreign dignitary should be so vulnerable. The politician was left in the A&E of the Middlesex Central hospital with no trousers, covered in a blanket. ‘The police didn't seem to care. No one helped me and I was naked, that would never happen in my country,’ he said.”
Remember mom’s saying, “Always wear clean undies”? Well, to this day, Senator She Okitundu is pondering that age-old wisdom. Sadly, there are pictures of Okitundu's white undies with a huge shit-colored blotch running down the middle of the back, as if the man had used his underwear to wipe his ass! The shameful photographs still grace the blogs of these pornographers (just check here)!
And I have a strong suspicion that in May 2007 the pictures of these filthy undies played a critical part in the upset pulled by the members of his own ruling majority in the Senate by passing him over and electing instead as the President of the Senate Mobutu’s erstwhile Prime Minister and opposition leader, Léon Kengo wa Dondo! In the crowded and promiscuous dog-eat-dog biodiversity of the Congolese political class where every specimen claims to be peerless, the man had simply lost the respect of his peers. And, I suspect, these people just decided on the spot to disobey Kabila (who was pushing Okitundu for the seat) by not letting a man who literally doesn’t wipe his behind to be first in the line of succession to the presidency!...
MP Yves Kisombe
The second notorious direct action by the “Londoniens” involved the baby-faced and flashy Kinois MP Yves Kisombe. Born into a rich Bakongo family, Yves Kisombe is famous in Kinshasa for his expensive clothes, shoes, and lavish lifestyle. And on the day of his lynching, he was fortunate enough to be wearing clean undies! In August 2009, while on vacation in London, Yves Kisombe, who had just been expelled from the MLC party for siding too often with the presidential majority alliance (AMP) at the National Assembly, was spotted being ushered to a table at a Tottenham restaurant. Before long, an angry Congolese mob had gathered outside the restaurant.
A police patrol car, with two London “bobbies” inside, stopped by to inquire about the fuss. One savvy Congolese went to the patrol car to tell the politically-correct cops that it was a great African evening: the crowd was simply accompanying in proper traditional fashion a paramount chief fresh from Africa who was dining inside the restaurant. To which the bobbies responded: “Carry on, mate!”—before leaving the scene of a crime in progress!
Soon afterwards, about 6 crazed guys then entered the restaurant and dragged Yves Kisombe outside to a dark alley nearby where they stripped him naked. Eerily, the beating of Kisombe was preceded by a kangaroo court. The assailants even gave him “due process” by assigning to him a defense counsel! After pronouncing the guilty verdict on all counts, the “judge” then pronounced the sentence: “You shall herewith be ‘Okitundized’ by the bana-mboka!”
The most bizarre thing about these “informal sovereigns” gone haywire is that, if we were to believe the main line of their narrative, according to which the power in Kinshasa is dictatorial, then they mirror it exactly in a strange chiasmatic configuration!
2) Instrumentalization of the murder by MLC and affiliate opposition parties:
François Mwamba
MLC Secretary-General
The instrumentalization of Flori Chebeya murder is also now being systematically done by the domestic Congolese opposition for political gain. On Saturday, June 5, MP François Mwamba, Secretary-General of the MLC party, in the deep tremolo of the best tradition of Francophone oratorical delivery, made a bombastic declaration, telling the nation that his party is withdrawing from the festivities of the Cinquantenaire (the 50th anniversary of independence) and urging all Congolese citizens to stay home on that day in order “to meditate” “on the current situation of the country.”
Excerpt from François Mwamba’s statement (my transcription of the audio):
“In light of the culpable indifference of the government in the face of the martyrdom of the Congolese people and so as not to give our support to the utilization of assassinations and other political crimes as instruments of governance in our country, the MLC hereby declares, bound by the duty of solidarity with these numerous victims, that it will not participate in the activities organized by the power in place on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the accession of our country to independence. Consequently, the MLC urges its elected representatives—national and provincial senators and deputies, members and sympathizers not to get involved in these festive activities of June 30, which are in contradiction with the social reality of our country and, above all, with the goal of the fight, led at times at the price of their lives, by the fathers of independence.”
(A quick rant: this statement strikes me as a personal insult to Patrice Lumumba, especially as it comes from the party that trampled Congolese sovereignty by allying itself with Uganda and giving it free rein to plunder and destroy the DRC—crimes of aggression and pillage for which the DRC is still claiming $23b in reparation from Uganda, and as recently as this very past Sunday, June 6!)
This instrumentalization is all the more worrying as Flori Chebeya’s funerals are planned on Independence Day! I wonder whether Kinshasa authorities would want to postpone them by 2 days or more when tempers would have somehow abated and in order to avoid bloody riots while their guests are around.
Strangely, one of the most notable reactions to MP François Mwamba’s outburst came from the opposition-leaning daily L’Observateur, in an op-ed penned by JPS and Nsimba Sikama and titled “What if the DRC was the victim of a machination?”:
“It’s regrettable that some fellow citizens claiming to be representatives from the opposition are already engaged in finger-pointing, accusing the powers that be of being the culprits of this murder.
What is curious is that they don’t rest these accusations upon any investigation. Given that the latter is on-going. Even if everyone was entitled to one’s opinion, one shouldn’t pump raw emotions into such a sensitive dossier as Chebeya’s. Everybody is awaiting the results of the investigation. And the powers that be or at least those speaking on their behalf are striving to shed light on this case that seems to be tarnishing the image of the DRC.”
MP François Mwamba and his party are wont to withdraw or threaten to withdraw from events and parliamentary sessions. Some people within the ruling presidential majority alliance have questioned this tactic, wondering whether the MLC deputies would accept pay cuts for what amounts to costly paid leaves-of-absence (those MPs have outrageous salaries and perks). At any rate, if François Mwamba thought Belgian King Albert II would cancel his participation at the Cinquantenaire, someone should tell him: “Think again!”
This past weekend, we are told, Vice-admiral Pierre Narnauts, head of the Royal protocol department, and Pierre Emmanuel De Bauw, the King’s press advisor and spokesperson were seen in Kinshasa, no doubt as “location scouts” for the King. The Royal scouting team will stay in Kinshasa till Thursday, June 10.
3) Attorney General Flory Kabange Numbi: Suspended Top Cop John Numbi NOT arrested:
Flory Kabange Numbi
DRC Attorney General
No relation to suspended Gen John Numbi
On Monday, June 7, Flory Kabange Numbi, the “Procureur Général de la République” (PGR) or Attorney General, quashed rumors alleging that suspended Gen John Numbi (no relation to the former) was under house arrest.
PGR Flory Kabange Numbi is a grumpy and quibbling legal scholar. In his press conference, he had tough words on what he called “unreasonable gossip” and “extraordinary rumor peddling.”
He bristled at the queries of journos who wanted to know whether his namesake, Gen John Numbi, was under house arrest for an “infraction” in the unfolding murder case:
“The General Inspector of the Congolese National Police was suspended from his functions as a precautionary measure, this is simply at the administrative level, he’s not under house arrest. What do you mean by being charged with an infraction? He was suspended because he’s the chief of police who must enforce security.”
Journos also wanted to know whether some senior police officers had confessed to the murder, a claim that also angered the Attorney General:
“They’d have confessed where? Those opinions only bind radio stations broadcasting them. We are at the stage of gleaning data. We’re in the process of garnering all the elements susceptible to allow us to identify the culprits of this criminal act.”
And I do believe PGR Flory Kabange Numbi. Had anyone confessed, the body of Fidèle Bazana Edadi, the missing driver, would have already been located by now!
4) The Dutch Ambassador Ellen Berends-Vergunst imposes a 4-member forensic team for autopsy (June 11):
Ellen Berends-Vergunst
Dutch Ambassador in Kinshasa
Don’t be fooled by the homeyness of this woman. And take with a grain of salt her claim that “being a female diplomat in the DRC is an advantage rather than a disadvantage as the Congolese tend to be ladies’ men.” Whom is Ambassador Berends-Vergunst kidding? She’s a tough cookie who’s seen it all: Moscow, Hanoi, Cape Town, Kiev… And throughout her tenure ever since she happened upon Kinshasa in 2007, she’s been a major headache to Congolese authorities when it comes to human rights, ready, in so many soft words, to dangle above their heads the perilous prospect of cutting off aid whenever it somehow leaps out on her that she’s being taken for granted.
This time around, she’s turned into her personal crusade the independent and transparent investigation of this murder—especially as she personally knew the murder victim. Besides, the following persons are lobbying tooth and nail for the participation of Dutch forensic experts (and they were promised full official cooperation by the Raïs himself): the widow, Anne-Marie Mangbenga Nzinga; the older brother of the murder victim, Fidèle Chebeya Namugwabiza; and the deputy of Flori Chebeya.
Ambassador Ellen Berends-Vergunst has been bearing down heavily on Congolese authorities. And it seems that something gave way under her intense and relentless pressure of the last few days. While the DRC authorities are still reluctantly considering the FBI forensic assistance extended by the U.S., they made a sudden turnabout yesterday, even contradicting other Congolese authorities who’d claimed on the same day that the investigation would solely be domestic:
“The Democratic Republic of Congo has agreed for Dutch forensics experts to take part in the autopsy of murdered rights activist Floribert Chebeya, an interior ministry source said Tuesday.
In a letter dated Monday addressed to the ambassador of the Netherlands, of which AFP has obtained a copy, Congolese Interior Minister Adolphe Lumanu gave his "accord" to a Dutch request to send four specialists to Kinshasa.
[…]
The Dutch team will be led by Dr Franklin [Ragnar Willem] Van de Groot, who will arrive in Kinshasa on Thursday evening with his [3] assistants [Ronald Robert Otsen, Pim Christiaan Volkers and Sylvain Carl Arne Roos] and carry out the autopsy on Friday, the Dutch embassy said.
"He will take samples and the laboratory analysis will be carried out in the Netherlands," an embassy source told AFP.”
The forensic team will do the autopsy on Friday, June 11, and leave that very same evening for the Netherlands where the samples will be analyzed.
In the meantime, the Raïs, who’s on his way to Johannesburg for the opening ceremony of the Mundial, arrived yesterday in Goma, coming from Bukavu. In Bukavu, a demonstration called for Monday, June 7, by local human rights groups for the speedy trial of Flori Chebeya’s murderers was canceled by provincial authorities for lack of proper “security context.” Incidentally, Flori Chebeya, a member of the Shi ethnic group of South-Kivu province, was born in Bukavu on September 13, 1963…
Floribert “Flori” Chebeya
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